


Shining Armor

by elfpunk999



Series: Tom & Christine [10]
Category: Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 04:05:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3555404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfpunk999/pseuds/elfpunk999
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dinner out with Christine's mum takes a turn for the worst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tom practically pulled Christine along behind him as he made for the exit of the restaurant. Grumbling under his breath as he forced a smile for the matrade and pushed open the door to exit onto the sidewalk. In her wobbly state of drunkenness Christine shrieked slightly as the door nearly closed on her before he pulled her through to stand beside him. "I'm sorry." he said quickly wrapping his arm around her to keep her upright. "I just could't sit there and listen to her talk about you like that anymore. She's supposed to be your mother for god sake." he growled.

"You get used to it." she slurred with a weak smile.

"You shouldn't have to get used to it." he snapped. Looking over his shoulder he saw Grace and Jim walking towards the exit. "Come on, before they catch up." he said linking his fingers with hers and walking briskly across the street. As she stumbled along behind him her feet slipped off the curb and she let out a loud screech. Tom stopped instantly as she jerked away from him to lean against the lamp post with a look of sheer pain on her face. "Oh my god, are you alright?" he asked rushing back to her with concern mounting in his voice and overtaking his face.

"My ankle." she groaned putting a slight amount of weight on it as her face twisted.

"I shouldn't have been pulling you. I'm so sorry." he said sinking to kneel in front of her. Gingerly taking her booted foot in his hand he rolled it slowly. "Can you move it?" he asked looking up at her face to gauge her pain.

"What happened?" he heard the voice of her mother and his eyes instantly rolled.

"She just stepped wrong. Probably twisted her ankle." he replied curtly.

"Sure she's not faking it? Wouldn't be the first time she faked an injury for attention." the woman replied with a heavy sigh. Tom's jaw clenched and he shook his head.

"No I don't believe she's faking."

"Well men can never really tell when women fake it can they." Grace laughed.

"Seriously!" Tom shouted standing up and glaring at Grace. "You're daughter is here in pain and youre going to make comments on our sex life?"

"Touchy subject I see. It was just a joke." she replied raising an eyebrow at him.

"I don't think its time for jokes when someone I love is in pain."

"You need to lighten up Tom. She's fine. Just walk it off."

"Walk it off, really?" he said as his brow furrowed. "Sound advice. Nearly as good as the last advice you gave her in her time of need. You should write a guide for all mothers to follow." he grumbled wrapping his arm around Christine's waist to help her across the street.

"Hey I'm a good mother." Grace said loudly. Tom's jaw tensed and he leaned Christine back against the lamp post. She looked at him shaking her head.

"You're an apalling mother." Tom said turning to look at Grace. "It truly amazes me that you raised such a well adjusted caring beautiful woman. It must all be from her father because I see none of you in her. You're selfish, rude, arrogant and abusive."

"Excuse me?" Grace asked crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"You heard me. What kind of mother berates her daughter when she calls in tears over losing a child?" Tom asked as his fists clenched and unclenched at his side.

"I didn't berate her." Grace snarled.

"No? So you didn't call her worthless for not being able to carry a child to full term so she could... what did you call it... lock me down so I'd have to take care of her for the rest of her life?"

"She over exgerated. She's got a wild imagination. Always has."

"And now I can add liar to the list of horrid attributes you did not pass on to your daughter." he smiled. "You were on speaker phone Grace. I heard the whole conversation from the next room." he scooped Christine up in his arms and carried her across the street to the car. "Have a safe flight Grace. Please... never call us again." he added.

"My knight in shining armor." Christine smiled as he pulled open the passenger door and set her in the seat. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Remember that tomorrow when all of this sinks in."

"You have no right to speak to me that way." Grace shouted walking towards them as he shut the car door.

"I have every right. She's the woman I love. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm going to care for her and protect her against everything I can in this world and right now that means saving her from you." He replied not even bothering to look at her.

"What kind of..."

"Man am I? I'm a good man." Tom said turning to face her quickly. "I'm far from perfect but I think I'm pretty damned good. I love my family,  my career and my soon to be wife. I would never abandon them on a childish whim to see the world with someone I hardly knew. Perhaps you should think over what kind of person you are." He walked around to the driver's side and pulled open the door.

"Jim are you going to say something?" She asked the man standing beside her with shock.

"He's not. Because he's not a good man." Tom replied.

"Hey I..." Jim began to protest.

"I hope you guys have a wonderful life together." Tom interrupted. "Christine and her father are better off without you around. Goodbye Grace, Jim." He slipped into the car leaving the pair to bicker on the street as he started the engine and drove away.

By the time they reached the driveway Christine was asleep. Leaning against Tom's shoulder, her arms wrapped around his. Carefully pulling his arm away and leaning her back against the seat he hurried out of the car and around to her side. Scooping her up in his arms he carried her inside and up to bed. Loki must have sensed something was wrong, the feline instantly jumped up onto the bed and nuzzled beneath her chin. Sleepily she scratched his head and hummed with a smile curling her lips.

"I'm going to look at your ankle alright?" Tom asked softly.

"It feels fine." She slurred, either from sleepiness or intoxication. Tom smiled as he gently unlaced her boots.

"Going to check it all the same." He said. First pulling off the uninjuried foots boot and setting it on the ground he sat on the bed as he pulled off the second. She groaned in her sleep, her face contorting slightly. Finally getting the shoe off he tenderly moved his fingers over the ankle. It was swollen and turning a deep purple. With a heavy sigh he leaned forward, kissing the injury softly. "I'll be right back."

Walking to the bathroom he rummaged through the cabinet, finding a bandage wrap and then running downstairs to get an ice pack from the freezer. When he returned Christine had curled up on her side, Loki purring in her arms, the offending ankle stretched out towards the end of the bed. Putting the ice pack against her skin she squirmed.

"It'll help." He replied to her grumbles of protest. He loosely wrapped up her ankle, securing the ice pack against her skin.

After stripping out of his clothes and pulling on a pair of sleep pants he grabbed his phone and shot Connie a text.

'C's going to miss work tomorrow. Taking her to docs. Twisted ankle. -TH'

Slipping into bed behind her he wrapped his arm around her tightly and kissed her neck. "I love you." He whispered. Her reply was a mumbled slur of sounds that made his lips curl and a chuckle rise up his chest.


	2. Helpless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the nights fight running through his head, Tom can't escape the memories of past events.

His words spat in anger at Grace echoed in his mind. This was the second time in a month that the worst thing that had ever happened to them was brought to the surface. Old scars that would never heal. Laying in the dark beside a snoring passed out Christine he couldn't silence his brain. He knew the nightmares that he'd face when he closed his eyes. 

* * *

 

He'd never felt more helpless then during that car ride home with luke from the airport. He wasnt sure what he was going to find when he got there. She'd sounded ok on the phone; hurt for sure but not completely broken. His heart was in his stomach as his mind raced over the phone call he'd gotten the night before.

 

_"Tom I need you to come home."_

_"I cant leave in the middle of a shoot love you know that. What's wrong? I can hear it in your voice."_

_"I just... I had..." she struggled with the words. "I went to the doctors today, remember. Because I was sick when I got home."_

_"I thought it was just the traveling. You said you'd had too much to drink." His voice was heavy with concern. "Is it something else? What did he say? Are you alright?" his mind started racing with all the worse case scenarios it could muster._

_"Tom I..." he could hear the pain in her voice,  the tears running down her cheeks. "Tom I lost the baby." her voice was no more than a whisper but it rang in his ears like a fog horn had been blown beside his head. His heart sank into his stomach and his brain went blank. "Please say something tom." he tried. His mouth moved but no words came out making him feel like a fish gasping for water. "Tom please. I'm so sorry. I didnt know. I should have known." his brow furrowed as he listened to her cry over the phone. "Oh god you hate me. I knew it. Please just..."_

_"I don't hate you." he finally choked out. "I could never hate you. This isn't your fault."_

_"Yes it is. I should have known. I'm so stupid." She babbled through her tears._

_"Christine stop. I'm on the next plane out. I'll be home as soon as I can."_

 

Tom fidgeted in his seat. His foot bouncing against the floor of the car as he mindlessly picked at his nails and cracked his knuckles. He needed to talk; needed to tell someone, but she begged him not to. Not even Luke knew why he had to be home so suddenly. His eyes flashed up to see his friend looking at him with concern. He forced tight lipped smile and turned to stare out the window. It was only a thirty minute drive from the airport to his front door but it felt like hours. Each lamp post that went by took days to crawl past his window. He needed to be home. To see her face. To hold her close. As they grew closer to his destination he felt himself becoming more agitated. His eyes darted around as his heart raced in his chest.

"Is everything alright Tom?" Luke finally asked as they pulled onto his street.

"It's fine." he lied smiling at the man beside him.

"Just... anxious to be home for a few days." 

 

Walking in he wasnt sure what he was going to see; but it wasnt what he expected. Christine was curled up on the sofa in her favorite throw blanket watching Silence of the Lambs. It was on her favorite part. The bit where Hannibal escapes the guards by wearing the man's face. Tom cringed at the bloody scene. Shutting the door his brow furrowed as she didn't even budge. He walked around to see if she'd fallen asleep waiting on him; but as he rounded the couch he saw her eyes open and fixed on the television.

"I'm home." he said with a hint of frustration in his voice. Her eyes snapped over and she smiled up at him.

"Lay with me." she said reaching up for his hand. He let her fingers wrap around his palm before he smiled back.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly. She nodded as her eyes went back to the movie.

"Oh, can you refill this before you join me?" she asked reaching towards the coffee table and handing him an empty glass.

"Sure, what was it?"

"Jameson."

"Just... Jameson?" he asked as his brow pinched.

"Yip. Thank you." her eyes never leaving the screen. Tom sat in the recliner beside the couch and watched her for a minute.

"Are we going to talk about it?"

"I'm fine." she said staring at the tv.

"You're not fine. Please don't be fine." he said shaking his head.

"Why not? You want me to be a sobbing mess on the floor? Would that make things better?" she asked tilting her head to look at him.

"Yes." he confessed.

"Why?" she asked with frustration.

"Because I can fix that. I can hold you while you cry. I can carry you to bed when you fall asleep in my arms. I can whisper how much I love you to quiet the nightmares." he grew more frustrated with each word. His tone reflected it. "I can't fix fine. I cant do anything. I came home to take care of you. Please let me take care of you."

"Fine. Do it."

"I cant! I dont know what to do! " he shouted. Christine sat up and stared at him.

"What you can do... is walk into the kitchen, pour some Jameson into that glass and then come lay here with me on the sofa and finish this movie." she said in a flat condescending tone.

"I don't think drinking this away is the best plan. Thats what caused all of this in the first place." he replied. Christine's jaw went tight and her eyes clouded tears.

"Really?

"Christine, I just meant..." he reached out to take her hand but she stood up to glare down at him.

"Fuck off Thomas." she growled before storming up the stairs and slamming the bedroom door hard enough to rattle the shelves below. Tom clenched his jaw as his eyes closed in frustration. His fingers gripped the glass in his hand tightly before he sent it flying across the room to shatter against the wall. Running his fingers through his hair he let his nails dig into his scalp as a low growl rolled up his chest and turned to a scream before it left his lips.

After taking a few calming breathes he climbed the stairs and knocked on the bedroom door. Turning the handle he found it locked and the fire pulsed in his blood again.

"Please open the door Christine." he said calmly. He waited a full minute with no answer. "I will break it down. Now open the door." Another minute. "Please." he growled, his knuckles going white as he gripped the handle. Still no response from the otherside of the door. With a swift twist of his wrist he slammed his full weight against it and felt the lock snap before it swung open. His chest heaved as his eyes fell on Christine curled up in the corner with her knees to her chest and her face buried in her hands.

"I dont want to see it." she sobbed as he walked to her and sank to his knees.

"See what?" he asked wrapping his fingers around her wrists. "Christine talk to me, please." he begged softly.

"I can't..." she shook her head as he pulled her hands from her face. Her eyes clenched tightly as she fought not to look at him. "I can't see the hate in your eyes. It'll kill me."

"What? I don't hate you." his hands cupped her cheeks to stop her head from shaking. "Look at me. I could never hate you." her eyes opened and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You have to hate me." she whispered. "I hate me."

"Why would I hate you?" his eyes searched hers as he fought to hold back his own tears.

"I killed it." her voice just loud enough to hear. "I killed our baby." Tom shook his head and quickly pulled her into his chest before her control broke and she was sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt. He rocked her softly as he sat back on the floor and folded his knees up around her.

"This wasn't your fault. This wasn't anyones fault." he planted a long kiss on her forehead. "It just wasn't the right time. We have plenty of time." he couldn't tell who he was trying to console anymore. He knew his words were falling on deaf ears as she clutched at his shirt barely able to breath through her tears but he kept talking. Gently rocking her in his arms until her breathing leveled out and her fingers grip on his shirt loosened.

Scoping her up into his arms he got to his feet and carried her to bed. After curling up behind her, he pulled the blankets over them and wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"I love you so much Christine." he whispered into her hair. "You have no idea how much you mean to me."

 


End file.
